The present invention relates generally to an interface for a peripheral device of a computational controller. One embodiment of the invention relates to electronically configurable lighting devices that are provided as a peripheral device to a computational controller. Another embodiment of the invention relates particularly to programmable and/or configurable light towers for gaming machines and to methods of fitting light towers to gaming machines. Certain embodiments of the present invention also relate to a gaming machine fitted with such a light tower.
Light towers, otherwise known as candles, are often provided on gaming machines as a visual status indicator of their gaming machine. The light towers include one or more stages, typically up to four stages of different colours, which can be lit independently of each other.
Each status of the gaming machine that needs to be distinctly identified is ideally indicated by the light tower by a lighting arrangement unique to the status. For example, the lighting arrangement that indicates that a player of the gaming machine has requested a service call may be the lighting of a particular stage. Where there are more statuses than stages, then a stage may be turned on and off at different intervals to enable the one stage to indicate a plurality of distinct statuses.
Different existing gaming machines may communicate control signals to their light tower using different methods. For example, in some machines the control signals are serial commands received from the backplane and a serial peripheral interface (SPI) of the gaming machine, which are communicated to the mechanical meters of the gaming machine and converted into a parallel 4 bit lamp driver interface before being communicated to the light tower. The 4 bit lamp driver interface then directly drives the lamps in the light tower. In other machines, the 4 bit lamp driver interface may be directly connected to the backplane or a motherboard of the gaming machine. In still further alternative machines the control signal may be serial commands from the backplane or motherboard of the machine through the SPI, in which case the light tower receives the serial commands and drives lights the stages in response.
When provided, the SPI, in addition to providing control signals to the light tower, typically also provides an interface to other peripherals of the gaming machine.
Different gaming venues may require a different lighting arrangement for the same status. One way to achieve this in the past has been to provide coloured plastic inserts on the light tower to achieve the required lighting arrangement. This method has been traditionally used for light towers with incandescent bulbs for the stages. However, the method is inefficient as it requires a person to physically change the plastic inserts. There is a need for an alternative method of configuring a light tower, which preferably reduces the labour required in changing a lighting arrangement and which also preferably minimises the cost of production of the light tower and gaming machine with a light tower fitted.